RW says 43% of women - just 4% of men - have been harassed on their runs

Wait. I thought everything was equal between men and women. Are you saying that there are many fundamental and menaningful differences between men and women apart from “plumbing”. What?!?!?!?!?

Exactly right. Numbers are wrong. Shame people are using the SJW "check your privilege" argument here saying one gender can't be harassed. Yes, it is worse for one gender than the other. Yes, one gender has it worse. Yes, one gender has more to fear, but harassment is harassment. Cars speeding up to scare you when you cross the road is another one. An argument could be made tha Run Forest Run is harassment too. Harassment includes any unwanted comments. The study didn't ask if you feared for your life on a run.

That is not correct, if you have been a runner out on the roads training for more than ten years or so you will have been harassed. Personally I could care less about verbal abuse, it is the projectiles that have been thrown at me that are of more concern. Also the cars that have swerved at me that really shake you up. Bottom line is that there are some angry people out there and it is best to keep your composure and not react negatively.

rojo wrote:

I find those numbers to be WAY off. As a man, I got harassed a lot. "Run Forrest run., Keep it up you fa**ot", etc.

Men and women, how many of you have been harassed on a run? I would think the numbers would be near 100% for both sexes.

One thing I'd say is I got harassed a lot when I was running 100+ mpw in short shorts and no shirt. Now that I barely run (less than 20 mpw) and when I do so I'm wearing long clothes, I never get harassed.

Whats going on in America? In Norway I've never ever been harassed on a run. Running is normal..only thing is kids joking by cheering or older people giving a nice word

I agree that if you consider "harassment" to include the purely verbal, 100% of woman runners and probably 100% of men also have been harassed.

I am a woman, and I have been running outdoors, in a variety of environments and nearly always alone, for about 40 years. I cannot begin to count the number of not-so-nice verbal comments I have received while running, in addition to verbal comments that are clearly friendly and others that could be taken either way. I have never been PHYSICALLY assaulted while running, although a couple of times I've been followed by men in cars in a manner that appeared threatening, but nothing happened. In contrast, while I spend less time out on the roads on a bike than I do running, I've had a number of objects thrown at my while cycling. I think cyclists, being out on the road and closer to traffic, are a much more obvious target than runners.

Women have been taught all our lives that our role in society is to be victims, and therefore to interpret everything as a threat. Men have not. I'm not surprised by the huge difference between the number of men and of women who report being harassed on runs. I am, however, surprised that the numbers are so low, for both women and men.

4% is too low, any guy who wears shorts that don't go below his knees has had people yell fa***t at him. Not to mention middle-aged women catcalling high schoolers, had that happen a few times too

RoJo,

Did you ever have your body groped while running?

Did you ever fear of being raped?

Were comments made towards you of a nature that made you feel the commentor was wanting to forcibly have sex with you?

Were you able to run alone without fear of being raped?

How many woman in the past five years have been raped while running vs men who have been raped while running?

How many women vs men are raped each year? (note: I've been sexually assaulted as a man, but I can easily understand gender dynamics and take a Bayesian approach to using previous information when assessing the probability that I will be assaulted in the future - heck, I'd say I over favored the previous information when assessing my likelihood when I was assaulted...)

Nice strawman argument. Was the survey about harassment, or was it about fear for your safety while running? Check the subject.

It entirely depends on how the study is defining harassment. If any catcall or "run, Forest, run" qualifies as harassment then it has to be very close to 100% for both sexes. If it is defined as something more than that then maybe the numbers are much lower. The odds of some creepy guy pulling up to a female at red light and doing more than making one pathetic comment is much higher for females than males.

As a male I have absolutely been catcalled, yelled at, honked at, cursed at, had things thrown at me, but have never felt unsafe or afraid in all of those circumstances. If I was female I can't say I would feel the same.

This is a great thread by LR standards: it's full of sarcasm and wild speculation about a serious topic about running, started by someone who edits [sic] a website about running. In that mode, let me congratulate you, Rojo: you are a great person and you have a great website.

You began this thread with the intention of giving clarity to and setting the record straight about harassment, and you've succeeded as well as could be expected.

I wonder, when you start a thread, do you think to yourself -- there's just not enough adolescent naivete around here -- let me think some dumb crap up and post it? I think you should: clarity of purpose is a trait of all great public figures.

Yeah. They are CLEARLY talking about sexual harrassment. So, the figures will be accurate. Did you also know that significantly more women than men are raped too? Mansplaining at its best.

Location and decade matter a lot. Maybe the survey is biased with a portion of urban millennial men.

Been around for a while, and went to college in a rural/farming town that happened to a college. We'd get hassled several times a season. I got beaned with a soda can and we had some near fights with townies in their vehicles, not to mention swerves and spraying gravel at us. But that was in the 1970s. Since then I might get a catcall here and there but it's not common.

In the 60's and 70's people were rude at times; stuff thrown from cars, bad comments. But now rarely bad stuff; lots of encouragement and even cheering during runs these days. All ages and both genders. Waaay fun! Male, 66

notallwebsites wrote:

This is a great thread by LR standards: it's full of sarcasm and wild speculation about a serious topic about running, started by someone who edits [sic] a website about running. In that mode, let me congratulate you, Rojo: you are a great person and you have a great website.

You began this thread with the intention of giving clarity to and setting the record straight about harassment, and you've succeeded as well as could be expected.

I wonder, when you start a thread, do you think to yourself -- there's just not enough adolescent naivete around here -- let me think some dumb crap up and post it? I think you should: clarity of purpose is a trait of all great public figures.

Did you read what I wrote?

I guess not.

1) I put this article up in the #1 spot on the homepage because I think it's an important thing to talk about.

2) I never said I thought what men experience what women do while running.

3) I just started this thread because it seemed to me based on my personal experience the stats were WAY off. Even if women get it 5 x as more often as men, I'd assume it would be close to 100% for both sexes. I wanted to know if others felt the same. It's an interesting sidepoint to an important topic.

If I read an important research paper, are people not allowed to critic a small error in it? If a team wins a Super Bowl, are we not allowed to talk about the mistakes they made in the first quarter?

Years ago a friend of mine was running past 2 6 foot guys he was 5'9 usual runners build. One shouted out 'wanker' My friend decked him with one punch and carried in running.

It's amazing that if you walk past someone they say nothing whereas running they suddenly think they can say anything & for some reason you won't react.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

It's amazing that if you walk past someone they say nothing whereas running they suddenly think they can say anything & for some reason you won't react.

I'm always amazed by this as well. When I go back at someone and they're surprised, it's like what did you think would happen?

For better or worse, I go back at everyone who harasses me on my runs. Not the most mature approach probably, but when I run I'm in a very aggressive mindset and it's just instinct. Hopefully if these cretins have a bad experience with me they'll think twice before bothering another runner. I probably get harassed ~5 times a year.

These people are nearly always looking for an easy target, and once they realize you aren't one they get pretty flustered. I was very small early in my running career and I definitely got harassed more often then. Now that I'm 6-1, I don't get it nearly as much.

Agree. Good post.

There's a difference between being harassed for running vs. harassed for being a woman.

As a male and regular runner living in Wellington New Zealand I regularly cop abuse from passing motorists. "fa##ot" is the favourite throw I receive. -Definitely more common in summer when Im without my singlet on hotter days.

Interestingly ALL of the abuse I receive is from males, and always they shout it from moving vehicles. I think the key difference between abuse received between male/female runners, is that the abuse targeting female runners is exclusively sexual in nature. Whereas I have never been catcalled or been asked to remove my kit (dammit)

Yeah I don't believe 4%. Not only had run Forrest etc but nice legs etc...